Quantum Point Contact

We report on the realization of a few-electron double quantum dot defined in a two-dimensional electron gas by means of surface gates on top of a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure. Two quantum point contacts (QPCs) are placed in the vicinity of the double quantum dot and serve as charge detectors. These enable determination of the number of conduction electrons on each dot. This number can be reduced to zero while still allowing transport measurements through the double dot. Microwave radiation is used to pump an electron from one dot to the other by absorption of a single photon. The experiments demonstrate that this quantum dot circuit can serve as a good starting point for a scalable spin-qubit system.

We report on shot noise measurements in carbon nanotube based Fabry-Perot electronic interferometers. As a consequence of quantum interferences, the noise power spectral density oscillates as a function of the voltage applied to the gate electrode. The quantum shot noise theory accounts for the data quantitatively. It allows to confirm the existence of two nearly degenerate orbitals. At resonance, the